Saturday, March 23, 2024

Brain Fog From Lyme Disease

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Solution: Locate And Clean Up Moisture And Mold

Brain Fog and Chronic Lyme Disease

To avoid further exacerbating your symptoms, you may need to consult with a professional to safely find and remediate sources of mold in your home a good idea in general, since doing it yourself will ramp up your exposure. In the meantime, here are some things you can do on your own:

  • Place a HEPA air purifier in the areas of your home where you spend the most time, especially your bedroom. Reducing your exposure to mold while you sleep may help you wake up feeling more alert and refreshed.
  • Reduce your humidity levels to as low as possible ideally, between 30% to 50%. Dehumidifiers and air conditioners can be useful tools to keep in check the humidity mold loves.
  • Routinely inspect your heating and air conditioning systems for mold, and if necessary, have them cleaned.
  • Consider eliminating rugs or carpet in rooms that are known to contain high levels of moisture, such as the bathroom or basement.
  • Keep your kitchen, bathroom, and laundry rooms well ventilated.
  • If you have an attic, make sure the space is dry and doesnt contain moisture.
  • Theres no doubt that Lyme brain can be a frightening and overwhelming symptom of Lyme disease, and many of the potential causes overlap with one another, which can make sorting things out a bit tricky. But begin to chip away at the causes as best you can. Over time, youll start to notice clearer thinking, improved memory, and better cognitive functioning. There is light at the end of the tunnel, and you can recover!

    Holistic Hyperbarics Lyme Commercial Transcript

    Sylvia: My name is Sylvia and I have Lyme Disease. Before I started getting hyperbaric treatments, I was super, super ill. I had no energy, I was bedridden and I was in pain 24 hours a day.

    Alex: I knew that hyperbaric oxygen therapy definitely could help with Lyme and give people a chance to heal from all of the fatigue and the brain fog and the pain that you experience when you have Lyme.

    Dr. Zayd Ratansi: Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is a way to get more oxygen into your body.

    Sylvia: I had extreme neuropathy throughout my body, which is from one of the coinfections of Lyme, and I was so ill that the first time I came in for treatment I couldnt drive myself or come in without a friend walking me.

    Alex: But after that first day of getting her in the chamber, it was remarkable to see the changes.

    Sylvia: My first experience at Holistic Hyperbarics was incredible.

    Dr. Zayd Ratansi: You are getting more oxygen into your blood, then your heart will pump it to all your metabolically active tissues and organs and organ systems, causing energy production. Energy production, so now the brain starts getting more oxygen, more energy, quicker repair, function and regeneration, and that happens for all metabolically active tissue.

    Alex: Every day she came in, she came in three days a weeks for 90 minutes for several months, and throughout that time we would just hit milestone after milestone after milestone.

    Patient testimonials are genuine and typical, but results may vary.

    Connecting Fever And Lyme Disease

    Low-grade fevers are exhausting. If your temperature is 100 degrees or higher, its a good sign your body is fighting an invisible invader. Fevers ignite your bodys immune system which is important when it comes to fighting infection. Lyme disease develops as a result of the borrelia burgdorferi infection, so fevers are a normal part of the process. But if youre not getting better, it means something is wrong. You should schedule an appointment with us as soon as possible.

    Fevers are commonly associated with headaches, muscle aches, reduced appetite, skin rashes, and weaknesses, as well as sweating and shivering. However, it can have significant long-term effects, including brain damage. Thats why its so important to identify and treat the cause.

    Also Check: Standard Treatment For Lyme Disease

    Losing The Ability To Retain Information

    Nothing sunk in and it became very frustrating. I find my self looking at my notebook and clearly reading what I had written but not being able to make sense of the words because I didn’t retain what was taught earlier. In order to somewhat retain the information I had to read a sentence almost ten times to accomplish what a normal person could retain with a couple glances. I could look up a word, look at the meaning and understand it but when I’d close the dictionary, I was right back where I was before I even opened the dictionary. Clueless.

    Unraveling The Mystery Of Lyme Disease

    10 Natural Ways to Reduce Brain Fog and Boost Mental Stamina

    Vol. 53 No. 4

    Monitor on Psychology53

    Long before the SARS-CoV-2 virus was linked to a syndrome we now call long COVID, researchers and clinicians were already debating over how to best assist patients experiencing lingering symptoms from Lyme disease. For reasons that are unclear, 10% to 20% of people who contract Lyme disease report ongoing or intermittent symptoms at least a year after completing antibiotic treatment, including fatigue, muscle aches, difficulties with memory, irritability, and other symptoms, according to a review of the research .

    For patients, these ongoing and sometimes debilitating symptoms can erode their quality of life, potentially leading to depression, anxiety, and other mental health issues. But over the past few decades, researchers have also determined that the tick-borne infection itself, along with related inflammatory and other physiological effects, may directly cause mental health disorders.

    One recent study, conducted by researchers from the Columbia University Irving Medical Center and the Copenhagen Research Centre for Mental Health, found that patients who received a hospital diagnosis of Lyme disease had a 28% higher rate of mental disorders and were twice as likely to have attempted suicide postinfection than individuals without a Lyme diagnosis .

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    Lyme Disease Can Cause Chronic Fatigue

    Lots of things can cause chronic fatigue, but Lyme disease is undoubtedly one of them. Left untreated, it can develop into a chronic infection that can affect everything from your sleep to your adrenal glands, sex hormones, gut health, thyroid, immune system, heart, and brain. All of these things are critical to your overall health and well-being and can cause a deep level of exhaustion.

    There are two main schools of thought when it comes to treatment. The current thought leaders in this space are the International Lyme and Associated Disease Society and the Infectious Disease Society of America . Each has published its own evidence-based treatment guidelines, but while ILADS is committed to long-term treatment, IDSA favors a short-term approach.

    Dr. Ridinger is a member of ILADS. Lyme disease is complex and treatments have come a long way since the early days, when patient after patient experienced little to no benefit from antibiotic regimens. The modern approach is grounded in whole-body wellness, which gives your body the reserves it needs to successfully fight infection so you can start feeling better quickly.

    Insights On Neurological Lyme Disease

    She rounds out her discussion of these issues by interviewing five professionals who know a lot about neurological Lyme disease. One is psychiatrist Robert Bransfield, MD, a top expert on how Lyme affects the brain . Another is Sandra Berenbaum, LCSW, with whom I co-authored the book When Your Child Has Lyme Disease: A Parents Survival Guide. Others are Leo Shea, Ph.D., who has extensive experience with neuropsychological testing of children and adults with Lyme disease health advocate/blogger Scott Forsgren, founder of BetterHealthGuy.com, who writes extensively on Lyme-related issues and Connie Strasheim, author of many books about Lyme disease. They all offer useful insights on the topic of Lyme disease brain.

    Throughout the book, Ducharme offers practical information with a strong helping of optimism. As she writes early on:

    I find that the majority of people with Lyme brain can find resolution or, at the very least, significant improvement of their symptoms.Im not saying its quick or easy, but I have seen remarkable improvements in people who started out very, very ill with horrible Lyme brain and are now back at work, running their families and living their lives as productive, happy people.

    If you or a loved one has a problem with neurological Lyme disease symptoms, I think youll find this book both helpful and hopeful.

    Also Check: Infrared Sauna And Lyme Disease

    Brain Inflammation Flowing From Post

    In our feature article, within edition 227 of BC Disease News , we focused on Lyme disease as an occupational risk most likely to affect workers in agriculture. Infection is typically transmitted when Borrelia burgdorferi bacteria is passed from ticks to humans, i.e. through tick bites.

    Since 2000, the number of Lyme disease cases in England and Wales have increased in an upward trend. In 2017, there were around 1,500 laboratory confirmed cases of Lyme disease.

    Figure: Number of confirmed cases of Lyme disease in England and Wales

    Individuals who demonstrate longer-term symptoms of Lyme disease infection, such as persisting months of fatigue, pain and aching, are labelled sufferers of post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome . This is a medically acknowledged condition, which could also be indicative of chronic fatigue syndrome or fibromyalgia.

    PTLDS is not to be confused with chronic Lyme disease , the term given to those who report symptoms of Lyme disease illness without any recorded incidence of Borrelia burgdorferi infection. Clinicians have argued that PTLDS should be distinguished from CLD, as CLD is not medically recognised.

    Earlier this month, a small study, published in the Journal of Neuroinflammation, verified that PTLDS patients suffer from brain inflammation. This may explain why sufferers report long-term fatigue, pain, sleep disruption and “brain fog”.

    Visualizing Brain Fog In Post

    Lyme disease natural remedies Pinella brain fog

    More than one in 10 people successfully treated with antibiotics for Lyme disease go on to develop chronic, sometimes debilitating and poorly understood symptoms of fatigue and brain fog that may last for years after their initial infection has cleared up.

    Now, a Johns Hopkins team has used an advanced form of brain scan to show that 12 people with documented post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome all show elevation of a chemical marker of widespread brain inflammation, compared with 19 healthy controls.

    Results of the study, published in Journal of Neuroinflammation, suggest new avenues for treating the long-term fatigue, pain, sleep disruption and brain fog associated with PTLDS. Theres been literature suggesting that patients with PTLDS have some chronic inflammation somewhere, but until now we werent able to safely probe the brain itself to verify it, says Jennifer Coughlin, a senior author and associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences.

    What this study does is provide evidence that the brain fog in patients with post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome has a physiological basis and isnt just psychosomatic or related to depression or anxiety, says John Aucott, director of the Johns Hopkins Lyme Disease Research Center.

    In addition, the results suggest that drugs designed to curb neuroinflammation may be able to treat PTLDS, although clinical trials are needed first to determine the safety and benefit of such therapy, Aucott says.

    Recommended Reading: Blot Test For Lyme Disease

    What Is Lyme Disease

    Lyme disease is the most common tick-borne illness in the United States, with about 300,000 cases diagnosed each year. The black-legged tick carries the disease, which is caused by a bacteria called Borrelia burgdorferi. Its named after Lyme, Conn., where it was first identified.

    The symptoms of Lyme disease include headache, fatigue, swollen lymph nodes, muscle and joint pain, fever and chills. Because of these symptoms, people sometimes mistake Lyme disease symptoms for the flu. But one of the most mysterious symptoms of Lyme disease involves long-term issues with fatigue and brain fog that may last for years after their initial infection has cleared up, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine. These cognitive symptoms typically impact about 10% of Lyme disease patients.

    What Are The Treatments For Lyme Disease

    Lyme disease is treated with antibiotics. The earlier you are treated, the better it gives you the best chance of fully recovering quickly.

    After treatment, some patients may still have pain, fatigue, or difficulty thinking that lasts more than 6 months. This is called post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome . Researchers dont know why some people have PTLDS. There is no proven treatment for PTLDS long-term antibiotics have not been shown to help. However, there are ways to help with the symptoms of PTLDS. If you have been treated for Lyme disease and still feel unwell, contact your health care provider about how to manage your symptoms. Most people do get better with time. But it can take several months before you feel all better.

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    Popular Remedies For Brain Fog

    • NutraMedix Pinella Nerve and Brain Cleanse – Pinella is an herb found in the Peruvian Rain Forest. The extract of the bark is commonly used for cleansing and detoxing the brain which has shown to be extremely helpful for those with Lyme Disease suffering with brain fog and memory loss.
    • Epsom Salt Bath – Epsom Salt Baths are commonly used for relieving a herx which can entail brain fog and cognitive impairment. The magnesium sulfate is said to be absorbed through the skin and assist the body in removing toxins that cause a herx.

    What Are Examples Of Covid

    Into the Lyme Journey: Brain Fog

    Dr. Aluko Hope from Montefiore Hospital in New York City described what he has learned from listening to COVID-19 patients. About a third of his patients say they cant recall telephone numbers they used to know, or that they struggle to remember the right word, feeling like its on the tip of their tongue but just out of reach. They cant remember where their keys are, what basic traffic rules are.

    Dr. Adam Kaplan, a neuropsychiatrist at Johns Hopkins University, adds This mental fuzziness, often referred to as brain fog, has become one of a number of reported COVID-19 recovery symptoms.

    They say their brains work more slowly, explains Kaplan. They cant pick up information in conversation as easily as they used to, and they struggle with short-term memory: Theyll walk to the kitchen, for instance, and forget what they were looking for. Multitasking is impossible. It takes them longer to get things done, and they often feel confused and overwhelmed. Some patients struggle to return to work or to school.

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    How Lyme Disease Affects The Brain

    By Rachel Keck, MS

    Did you ever wonder how Lyme disease affects the brain, including symptoms of brain fog? The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that about 200,000 people are diagnosed every year with Lyme disease.

    But many believe the true number of people suffering from Lyme in the United States is actually much higher. Thats because Lyme disease symptoms vary greatly and can impact different people in different ways. Aside from that, the ELISA screening test most doctors use misses up to 35 percent of Lyme cases, making it a horrible first-line detection for the disease.

    The problem is likely only going to get worse, too, being that Lyme is among the major health effects of climate change.

    Even with many cases missed in the doctors office, Lyme disease is still the most common tickborne disease in the northern hemisphere. Despite being so common, Lyme disease symptoms vary depending on the patient and how the bacteria impacts different systems of the body. In fact, Lyme disease often mimics other diseases or illnesses and be referred to as the new great imitator.

    Lyme disease is often misdiagnosed as such diseases, including:

    • Chronic fatigue syndrome
    • Autism-like syndromes
    • Various psychiatric illnesses

    Lower Inflammation Cytokines And/or Quinolinic Acid

    Curcumin is a component of turmeric that lowers both cytokines and quinolinic acid which improves brain fog. Take a liposomal form of curcumin to increase the absorption. Liposomal means that it is microscopically wrapped in fat to increase its absorption.

    • Curcumin 500 mg 1 pill 3 times a day.

    For more information about cytokines and additional supplements see Control Cytokines: A Guide to Fix Lyme Symptoms & The Immune System. For more information about curcumin see Curcumin.

    Read Also: Is Lyme Disease Rash Itchy

    How Lyme Gets Into Your Brain

    To understand how Lyme disease affects, the brain, its important to understand the different phases of the infection. Ticks, specifically deer ticks in the northeastern U.S., are the carriers of the bacteria spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi that causes Lyme disease. In particular, its the small, immature tick nymphs that feed on animals like the white-footed mouse, squirrels and other small mammals that serve as reservoirs for Borrelia burgdorferi. Later, an infected tick will attach themselves to a person or other mammal. Once attached, the tick will gorge on the blood of its host for several days. Many

    Infection Phase

    Even prior to entering the host, S. Borrelia Burgdorferi has its work to do. Host blood enters the tick gut during feeding, as S. Borrelia Burgdorferi simultaneously begins to multiply in preparation to travel to the ticks salivary glands. As the bacteria enter the host, there are several mechanisms that make it difficult for the immune system to attack and eradicate S. Borrelia Burgdorferi.

    First, to avoid an immune response from the host, the bacteria decrease the number of surface proteins that signal a pro-inflammatory response. These proteins are normally found at high levels within the tick gut, but are significantly decreased during feeding periods.

    The Treatment: Lyme Disease Syndrome

    Mold/Lyme/CIRS Symptoms: Brain Fog

    Treating Lyme disease in patients depends on the symptoms and severity of the condition. If it’s not treated at all, the infections in the bloodstream can turn into co-infections in the heart, joints, brain, and central nervous system.

    Doctors usually diagnose Lyme disease based on the physical signs, symptoms the patients present with, history of environmental exposure and specialized testing.

    Treating this condition is not as cut-and-dry as it is with other diseases. Antibiotics are often the go-to option for treatment, but alone, they are usually not enough. In fact, overusing antibiotics can cause permanent, irreversible damage, and many patients find that they only get sicker as a result.

    There are several health issues the patient may need to address before any type of Lyme treatment is successful, such as hormone imbalances, intestinal dysfunction, and thyroid dysfunction. The body also needs to get rid of heavy metal toxins and mold toxins.

    Previous treatments focused on one symptom at a time. This ineffective strategy no sooner fixed one problem before another took its place. Now, however, a beneficial treatment called stem cell therapy is the preferred method of treatment for many patients.

    Stemaid therapy uses natural treatments to eliminate internal problems, such as toxins, in conjunction with repairing damaged cells.

    Possible Brain Inflammation Can Occur

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